
Trends and shocking takeaways from the Stanley Cup playoffs’ second round
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2 months agoon
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May 13, 2025, 09:30 AM ET
The second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs has passed the midway point, with all but one series through Game 4.
What have been the biggest lessons learned through the first part of the second round? Which teams and players have surprised (in either a good or bad way)? How will all of it matter when it comes to the rest of the postseason?
ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski break it all down:
Could a recent playoff trend be a good omen for the Stars?
Of course, there’s still quite a bit that can change in the Winnipeg Jets–Dallas Stars series. But let’s just say that the Stars go on to win the series and advance to the Western Conference finals. It would be their third consecutive conference finals appearance, and their fourth visit since 2020. While they have yet to win the Stanley Cup during that window, does that level of consistency make them the preeminent team in the West?
There’s no shortage of challengers, with the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Cup in 2023, and the Edmonton Oilers coming within a game of doing so last season. If Dallas makes it to the next round, it will face one of those two.
But what makes the Stars’ situation one worth contextualizing is how it compares to other teams’ since the NHL moved to the Eastern/Western format in 1994. Beating the Jets and getting to a third straight conference finals would make the Stars just the fourth team under the current format to earn that distinction. The Detroit Red Wings did it first (from 1995 through 1998) and won two Stanley Cups. They did it again from 2007 through 2009, winning another title in 2008.
The most recent team was the Chicago Blackhawks, who did it from 2013 through 2015 and won two Cups. — Clark
Toronto needs a new tactic
The Maple Leafs looked like fish out of water in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers, a brutal 2-0 shutout loss in which the reigning Stanley Cup champions were in top form. Florida smothered Toronto with sustained offensive zone pressure, leading the Leafs to take multiple penalties and generally kill any ounce of momentum they tried to generate.
If it weren’t for a stellar (wasted) performance from goaltender Joseph Woll, the final score would have been a blowout, because Toronto had no answers for Florida’s heat.
0:52
Sam Bennett nets goal to double Panthers’ lead
Sam Bennett’s goal gives the Panthers a 2-0 lead halfway throughout the third period.
Unlike earlier in the series, when the Leafs were capitalizing on rush chances and literally spinning Sergei Bobrovsky in circles, the Panthers battened down the hatches to keep Toronto on the outside while boxing out better in front of Bobrovsky. If they can maintain that, and the Leafs can’t make adjustments, the Panthers are looking at a third straight Eastern Conference finals appearance.
Should Toronto want to make one of its own, it’s time to make some changes, and for its top skaters to step up. Mitch Marner doesn’t have a shot on goal since he scored the winner in Game 2. Auston Matthews doesn’t have a goal yet in the second round and hasn’t registered one against Florida in nine career postseason tilts.
Toronto coach Craig Berube said after Sunday’s loss that there are players the Leafs need more from — no names required. It’s clear. Both teams have owned home ice in the series so far. Toronto has that advantage still as this one becomes a best-of-three. The question is, what sort of counterpunch will the Leafs throw now that Florida’s claws are out and sharpened? — Shilton
Can Hellebuyck be trusted for the Olympics?
The first question Team USA’s brain trust will need to answer before the 2026 Winter Olympic men’s hockey tournament: Are the contests in Milan considered home games or road games? Because the answer could determine its starting goaltender.
At this point, Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck‘s struggles on the road in the Stanley Cup playoffs have reached the point of absurdity. He has won the Vezina Trophy twice in his career and will win it again this season. He’s a finalist for the Hart (MVP). There isn’t much debate, statistically or anecdotally, that he’s the best goaltender in the world … in the regular season.
In his past 20 playoff games, Hellebuyck is 7-13 with a .866 save percentage and a 3.90 goals-against average. The balance of those putrid numbers have come on the road, where Hellebuyck has lost eight of his past nine starts with an .835 SP and a 5.20 GAA.
After the first round of the playoffs against the St. Louis Blues, the bar for Hellebuyck was set at “can he get through a road game without being pulled?” The good news in Game 3 against Dallas is that he cleared that bar. The bad news is that he lost again and wasn’t very good, letting in a fluttering Roope Hintz shot for Dallas’ first goal, and then scoring what the NHL ruled was an own goal on Alex Petrovic‘s kicked puck in the third.
“He had to make some big stops. Him and [Dallas goalie Jake] Oettinger, they were going kind of toe to toe,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said after the game. “But we’re going to be judged — not just Connor — by what happens on the road. We’ve got to win.”
Oettinger, by contrast, is 12-11 with a .909 SP and a 2.63 GAA in his past 23 road playoff games. That’s not great, but it certainly isn’t getting pulled three times in the first round, either.
The U.S. has a deep goalie pool, but Oettinger is seemingly the next man up, having served as Hellebuyck’s backup at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. His play in this series and in other clutch moments — like the Stars’ Game 7 win against Colorado in Round 1 — should spark a conversation about the American’s Olympic starter, given Hellebuyck’s struggles when the games matter most.
However, it should be noted that Hellebuyck was outstanding at 4 Nations, with a 1.59 GAA and .932 SA in three games. Which begs the question: Perhaps you can trust him more playing in back of an All-Star team rather than the Winnipeg Jets, no matter where the games are played? — Wyshynski
The depth that has given the Oilers life could be the death of the Golden Knights
Seeing Adam Henrique score the first two goals in Game 4 before Evander Kane scored another did more than stake the Oilers to a 3-0 victory that now has them a win away from a second consecutive Western Conference finals appearance. It once again reinforced how the Oilers can rely on a level of depth that, by comparison, is lacking for the Golden Knights.
The statistic that has made that most clear is how the Oilers’ generational duo of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have combined to score just three of their team’s 15 goals. Draisaitl scored in Game 1, but the rest of those contributions, including the game winner, came from elsewhere in the lineup. Draisaitl did score the game winner in Game 2, but the previous four goals were scored by his teammates. In Game 3, Corey Perry scored the first two goals.
Now compare that to the Golden Knights. The trio of Ivan Barbashev, Tomas Hertl and Brett Howden combined to score 78 regular-season goals. They have been goalless through the first four games of their series against the Oilers. Vegas’ six primary defensemen combined to score 35 regular-season goals, with 17 of them belonging to Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore. The group has only one goal in the series.
It’s a lack of scoring depth that has been further compounded by the fact that Jack Eichel, who led the Golden Knights with 94 points in the regular season, hasn’t scored in the series. Meanwhile, leading goal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev, who missed the first two games with an injury, has also been blanked since his return. — Clark
Own goals for everyone?
Fans love seeing goals scored as much as players enjoy scoring them — except when it’s on their own net. And we’ve seen some doozies in that latter category this round.
There was the own goal in Game 3 between Dallas and Winnipeg on Sunday, when Petrovic’s go-ahead goal was found (after a lengthy official review) to have gone off Hellebuyck’s stick into the net. The night before, it was Draisaitl’s stick that put a puck past Stuart Skinner to give Vegas a buzzer-beating goal (with 0.4 seconds left on the clock) and its first win of the series.
1:07
Golden Knights stun Oilers with Reilly Smith’s buzzer-beating goal
Reilly Smith scores a miraculous goal for the Golden Knights with 0.4 remaining to give them the win.
Morgan Rielly‘s stick guided a puck in past Woll in Game 3 of Toronto’s series against Florida to cut into the Leafs’ 2-1 advantage. Toronto eventually lost 5-4 in overtime.
It’s not like there’s a good moment to score on your own net, but could the timing on any of them have been worse? If you’ve ever wondered why “just put pucks on net” is a time-honored hockey cliché, here’s your answer: Because anything can happen. — Shilton
Coaching in his 10th postseason, Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer has witnessed some startling individual playoff performances from his players. Like Ilya Kovalchuk‘s 19 points in 23 games for the Devils in 2012. Or Joe Pavelski‘s 14 goals in 24 games for the Sharks in 2016.
But nothing like the postseason that Rantanen is putting together for the Stars.
“It’s the best performance I’ve gotten to witness, standing where I’m standing,” DeBoer said after Dallas’ Game 3 win. “But for me, he’s just getting started. He’s just warming up here. I think he’s on a mission.”
Through 10 games, Rantanen leads the playoffs in goals (nine) and points (18). At one point, he had scored or assisted on 15 of 16 goals for the Stars, dating back to the first round. He’s the first player in Stanley Cup playoffs history with five three-point games through a team’s first 10 playoff games.
“Huge pickup at the deadline. He’s been awesome for us,” defenseman Alexander Petrovic said. “He’s a great guy in the room. He’s been on a tear.”
1:07
Steve Levy to McAfee: We should be talking more about Mikko Rantanen, Stars
Steve Levy joins Pat McAfee and breaks down Mikko Rantanen’s hot play in the postseason for the Stars.
He has done all of this after a turbulent season in which he was traded twice — from Colorado to Carolina and then to Dallas — before signing a blockbuster extension with the Stars. He has answered questions about his offensive prowess without having the benefit of Nathan MacKinnon on his team. He entered the playoffs as one of the NHL’s best postseason scorers of the past several seasons. He has blown away those expectations and is the current leader for the Conn Smythe Trophy (postseason MVP).
Yet though all of this torrid scoring recently, the Jets blanked him in their Game 2 shutout in Winnipeg.
“The biggest thing is time and space,” Arniel said. “I know that you hear that a lot in hockey, but at the end of the day, the more he holds onto it, the more he’s comfortable, the harder it is to deny what he’s trying to do next.”
But The Moose was back on the loose in the Stars’ Game 3 win, with a goal and two assists.
“I’m trying to stay in the moment. I’m happy to help the team and try to keep doing that as much as I can, both ends of the ice,” Rantanen said.
It’s certainly Mikko Rantanen’s moment. — Wyshynski
Ovechkin, Perry defying Father Time
Corey Perry will turn 40 on Friday, while Alex Ovechkin will hit that milestone in September. Perry and Ovechkin are part of a five-member group of players age 39 or older who have played more than one game this postseason. But to suggest Ovechkin and Perry are each having strong postseason campaigns for players their age only partially explains what they have done so far.
In fact, they’re having two of the best postseason campaigns for two players in their age-39 season in NHL history.
Perry, a Stanley Cup winner who ranks 38th in career playoff goals, has scored five times this postseason. Ovechkin, a fellow Stanley Cup winner who is tied with Mario Lemieux for 12th in playoff goals, has four. They’re both within striking distance of the most playoff goals in an age-39 season, per Quant Hockey. That mark is currently held by Jean Béliveau, with Le Gros Bill scoring six goals in 1971. — Clark
But have the Hurricanes solved Ovi?
Some might accuse Ovechkin’s game of being increasingly “one note.” But when played right, it’s a damn good note. And right now, the Washington Capitals are desperate for more of his contributions to their orchestra, at least at even strength.
Ovechkin’s line has been stifled by Carolina’s defense — namely Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns — so far in the series, and they’ve had far fewer shot attempts and chances than the opposition at 5-on-5. Ovechkin and linemate Dylan Strome especially thrive on creating chances off zone entries, and the Hurricanes aren’t giving them much in that respect.
Ovechkin continues to fight for open ice and does lead the Capitals in even-strength shots, but that hasn’t materialized into anything on the scoresheet; Ovechkin’s only goal of the series has been on the power play in Game 4.
Considering the Caps were just whacked 4-0 in Game 3 and 5-2 in Game 4, they are searching for consistent offensive contributions to carry them through. This is when Ovechkin has to start spinning his proverbial straw into gold again at full strength.
Washington got lucky in Game 2 after it was outshot 33-14 by the Hurricanes but still managed to come away with a 3-1 victory. If Carolina is finding its offensive groove now and beginning to solve Logan Thompson, then Washington must find ways to generate more offensive opportunities. That’s easier said than done against the Hurricanes’ smothering collective defensive game. — Shilton
Carolina is no joke
If you’ve been following the second round, you’ve undoubtedly come across a joke or two (or 10) about the relative quality of the Carolina Hurricanes‘ series against the Washington Capitals compared to that of the other three playoff series. Perhaps you’ve made a few yourself.
Monday night’s Game 4 was the outlier in what has otherwise been a grinding, tight-checking series in which four or fewer total goals were scored in each of the first three games, including a 4-0 shutout by goalie Frederik Andersen in Game 3.
The Hurricanes are the Hurricanes. Coach Rod Brind’Amour couldn’t care less about the entertainment value of this series or any series. His team’s mission is to vampirically suck the life out of opponents with a combination of puck possession, defensive zone coverage, reliable goaltending and elite penalty killing. Through four games, it has been mission accomplished.
Brind’Amour was asked about fans and media from other markets boiling down the Hurricanes’ virtues to simply being a monotonous “shot volume” team.
“It’s lazy. It’s lazy. Because you’re not really watching the game then. You’re picking out part of it,” he said. “But there’s a method to all of it. It doesn’t irk me.”
When the Canes don’t have the puck, they’re preventing shots: Carolina is allowing an average of 24.6 shots per game this postseason, third best among active teams.
“There have been times through this series when I’ve thought in my head, ‘shoot the puck.’ But then we have to get that puck through,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said.
Again, this is what the Hurricanes do. This is what the Hurricanes have done. And this is what they’ll continue to do in the Eastern Conference finals unless the Capitals have a rally in them. Which would be exciting. But the Hurricanes aren’t about that excitement.
“You don’t want to give them any life or give them any hope,” Canes winger Seth Jarvis said of Thursday’s Game 5 back in D.C. — Wyshynski
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Midseason grades for all 30 MLB teams: ‘A’ is for Astros, ‘F’ is for …?
Published
6 hours agoon
July 10, 2025By
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David SchoenfieldJul 9, 2025, 07:00 AM ET
Close- Covers MLB for ESPN.com
- Former deputy editor of Page 2
- Been with ESPN.com since 1995
We’re past due to hand out some midseason grades, so let’s hand out some midseason grades.
As we pass the 90-game mark in the 2025 MLB season, my team of the first half isn’t the well-rounded Detroit Tigers, who do get our highest grade for owning MLB’s best record, or the explosive Chicago Cubs or Shohei Ohtani‘s Los Angeles Dodgers, but a team most baseball fans love to hate: the Houston Astros. They lost their two best players from last season and their best hitter has been injured — and they’re playing their best baseball since they won the 2022 World Series.
Let’s get to the grades. As always, we’re grading off preseason expectations, factoring in win-loss record and quality of performance, while looking at other positive performances and injuries.
Jump to a team:
AL East: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
AL Central: CHW | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
AL West: ATH | HOU | LAA | SEA | TEX
NL East: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NL Central: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NL West: ARI | COL | LAD | SD | SF
Tarik Skubal is obviously the headline act, but the Tigers are winning with impressive depth across the entire roster.
Javier Baez is putting together a remarkable comeback season after a couple of abysmal years and will become the first player to start an All-Star Game at both shortstop and in the outfield. Former No. 1 overall picks Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have put together their own comeback stories, while Riley Greene has matured into one of the game’s top power hitters.
Given their deep well of prospects and contributors at the MLB level, no team is better positioned than the Tigers to add significant help at the trade deadline.
I heard someone refer to them as the Zombie Astros, which feels apropos. Alex Bregman left as a free agent, they traded Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez has been injured and has just three home runs, and the Jose Altuve experiment in left field predictably fizzled.
But here they are, fighting for the best record in the majors and holding a comfortable lead in the AL West. They’re getting star turns from Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Jeremy Pena, while the risky decision to start Cam Smith in the majors with very little minor league experience has paid off, as he has now become their cleanup hitter.
If we ignore the COVID-19 season, the Astros look on their way to an eighth straight division title.
This could be at least a half-grade higher based on everything that has gone right: Pete Crow-Armstrong‘s attention-grabbing breakout, Tucker doing everything expected after the big trade, Seiya Suzuki‘s monster power numbers and Matthew Boyd‘s All-Star turn in the rotation. The Cubs are on pace for their most wins since their World Series title season in 2016.
There have been a few hiccups, however, especially in the rotation with Justin Steele‘s season-ending injury and Ben Brown‘s inconsistency, plus rookie third baseman Matt Shaw has scuffled, and the bench has been weak aside from their backup catchers.
Still, this is a powerhouse lineup, and the Cubs will seek to improve their rotation at the deadline.
They just keep winning of late, going from 25-27 and seven games behind the Yankees on May 25 to taking over first place from the slumping Bronx Bombers, a remarkable turnaround over just 36 games. They went 27-9 over a 36-game stretch ending with their eighth win in a row on Sunday.
George Springer‘s recent surge has been fun to watch, a reminder of how good he was at his peak, and Addison Barger has been mashing over the past two months.
Some of the stats don’t add up to the Blue Jays being this good — they’ve barely outscored their opponents — but there might be more offense in the tank from the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a healthy Anthony Santander, and the bullpen, a soft spot, is the easiest area to upgrade.
Their success is best summed up by the fact that Freddy Peralta is their lone All-Star, but they have a whole bunch of players who have contributed between 1 and 2 WAR.
Brandon Woodruff looked good Sunday in his first start in nearly two years, so that could be a huge boost for the second half.
I’m curious to see how Jackson Chourio performs as well. While his counting stats — extra-base hits, RBIs — are fine, his triple-slash line remains below last season, especially his OBP. He had a huge second half in 2024 (.310/.363/.552), and if he does that again, the Brewers could find themselves back in the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons.
The Rays started off slow, with a losing record through the end of April, but then went 33-22 in May and June to claw back into the AL East race — as the Rays usually do, last year being the recent exception.
Two key performers have been All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, who has a chance to become just the third player to hit 40 home runs in his age-21 season, and All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda.
Due to the league wanting the Rays to play more home games early in the season, the July and August slate will be very road-heavy, so we’ll see how the Rays adapt to a difficult two-month stretch, especially since their pitching isn’t quite as deep as it has been in other seasons.
No, they’re not going to be the greatest team of all time. But they might win 100 games — even though Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, their huge offseason acquisitions, have combined for just two wins in 10 starts.
The lineup, of course, has been terrific, with Ohtani leading the NL in several categories and Will Smith leading the batting race. By wRC+, it’s been the best offense in Dodgers history.
If they can get some combo of Snell, Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow healthy, plus Ohtani eventually ramped up to a bigger workload on the mound, the Dodgers still loom as World Series favorites.
They are on pace for 95 wins, mainly on the strength of Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez, who are a combined 23-7 with 11.8 WAR. Jesus Luzardo‘s ERA is bloated due to that two-start stretch when he allowed 20 runs, but he has otherwise been solid as well.
But, overall, it hasn’t always been the smoothest of treks. The bullpen has imploded a few times and the offense has lacked power aside from Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper is back after missing three weeks, and they need to get his bat going. Look for some bullpen additions at the trade deadline — and perhaps an outfielder as well.
The Cardinals have been a minor surprise — perhaps even to the Cardinals themselves. St. Louis was viewing this as a rebuilding year of sorts — not that the Cardinals ever hit rock bottom and start completely over. They had a hot May, winning 12 of 13 at one point, but the offense has been fading of late, with those three straight shutout losses to Pittsburgh and six shutout losses since June 25.
The starting rotation doesn’t generate a lot of swing and miss, with both Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas seeing their ERAs starting to climb. Brendan Donovan is the team’s only All-Star rep, and that kind of sums up this team: solid but without any star power. That might foretell a second-half fade.
All-Star starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, plus a dominant bullpen, have led the way, although after starting 12-4, the Giants have basically been a .500 team for close to three months now. Rafael Devers hasn’t yet ignited the offense since coming over from Boston, and the Giants have lost four 1-0 games.
These final three games at home against the Dodgers before the All-Star break will be a crucial series, as Los Angeles has slowly pulled away in the NL West.
This was an “A-plus” through June 12, when the Mets were 45-24 and owned the best record in baseball, even though Juan Soto hadn’t gotten hot. Soto finally got going in June, but the pitching collapsed, and the Mets went through a disastrous 1-10 stretch.
The rotation injuries have piled up, exacerbating the lack of bullpen depth. Recent games have been started by Justin Hagenman (who had a 6.21 ERA in Triple-A), journeyman reliever Chris Devenski, Paul Blackburn (7.71 ERA) and Frankie Montas, who has had to start even though he’s clearly not throwing the ball well. The Mets need to get the rotation healthy, but also could use more offense from Mark Vientos and their catchers (Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A).
At times it has felt like Cal Raleigh has been a one-man team with his record-breaking first half. But he will be joined on the All-Star squad by starting pitcher Bryan Woo, closer Andres Munoz and center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who made it on the strength of his defense, as his offense has been a disappointment.
The offense has been one of the best in the majors on the road, but the rotation has been nowhere near as effective as the past couple of seasons, with George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller all missing time with injuries. They just shut out the Pirates three games in a row, so maybe that will get the rotation on a roll.
They’re just out of the wild-card picture while hanging around .500, so we give them a decent grade since that exceeds preseason expectations. It feels like a little bit of a mirage given their run differential — their record in one-run games (good) versus their record in blowout games (not good) — and various holes across the lineup and pitching staff.
But they’ve done two things to keep them in the race. One, they hit a lot of home runs. Two, they’re the only team in the majors to use just five starting pitchers. The rotation hasn’t been stellar, but it’s been stable.
The Padres are probably fortunate to be where they are, given some of their issues. As expected, the offensive depth has been a problem.
Not as expected, Dylan Cease has struggled while Michael King‘s injury after a strong start has left them without last year’s dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation (although Nick Pivetta has been one of the best signings of the offseason). Yu Darvish just made his season debut Monday, so hopefully he’ll provide a lift.
The Padres haven’t played well against the better teams, including a 2-5 record against the Dodgers, but they did clean up against the Athletics, Rockies and Pirates, going 16-2 against those three teams.
For now, the Reds are stuck in neutral. Leave out 2022, when they lost 100 games, and it’s otherwise been a string of .500-ish seasons: 31-29 in 2020, 83-79 in 2021, 82-80 in 2023, 77-85 in 2024 and now a similar record so far in 2025.
The hope was that Terry Francona would be a difference-maker. Maybe that will play out down the stretch, but the best hope is to get the rotation clicking on all cylinders at the same time. That means Andrew Abbott continuing his breakout performance, plus getting Hunter Greene healthy again and rookie Chase Burns to live up to the hype after a couple of shaky outings following an impressive MLB debut.
Throw in Nick Lodolo and solid Nick Martinez and Brady Singer, and this group can be good enough to pitch the Reds to their first full-season playoff appearance since 2013.
The Yankees have hit their annual midseason swoon — which has been subject to much intense analysis from their disgruntled fans — and that opening weekend sweep of the Brewers, when the Yankees’ torpedo bats were the big story in baseball, now seems long ago.
Going from seven up to three back in such a short time is a disaster — but not disastrous. Nonetheless, the Yankees will have to do some hard-core self-evaluation heading to the trade deadline.
The offense wasn’t going to be as good as it was in April, when Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice were all playing over their heads. So, do they need a hitter? Or with Clarke Schmidt now likely joining Gerrit Cole as a Tommy John casualty, do they need a starting pitcher? Or both?
From the book of “things we didn’t expect,” page 547: The Marlins are averaging more runs per game than the Orioles, Padres, Braves and Rangers, to name a few teams. They’re averaging almost as many runs per game as the Mets, and last time we checked, the Marlins weren’t the team to give Soto $765 million.
An eight-game winning streak at the end of June has the Marlins going toe-to-toe with the Braves for third place in the NL East even though the starting rotation has been a mess, with Sandy Alcantara on track to become just the fourth qualified pitcher with an ERA over 7.00.
Heading into the season, I thought that if any team was going to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West, it would be the Diamondbacks. The offense has once again been one of the best in the majors, but the pitching issues have been painful.
After the aggressive move to sign Corbin Burnes, he went down with Tommy John surgery after 11 starts. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt each have an ERA on the wrong side of 5.00. Rodriguez was better in June before a shellacking on July 4, while Gallen remains homer-prone, so it’s hard to tell if improvement is on the horizon. Their playoff odds are hovering just under 20%, so there’s a chance, but they need to get red-hot like they did last July and August.
It feels like it has been more soap opera than baseball season in Boston, with the Devers drama finally ending with the shocking trade with the Giants.
If you give added weight that this is the Red Sox, a team that should be operating with the big boys in both budget and aspirations and instead seemed to only want to dump Devers’ contract, then feel free to lower this grade a couple of notches, even if the Red Sox are close in the wild-card standings.
On the field, the heralded rookie trio of Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer hasn’t exactly clicked, with Campbell returning to the minors after posting a .902 OPS in April. A big test will come out of the All-Star break, when they play the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Twins and Astros in a tough 15-game stretch.
After last season’s surprise playoff appearance, it’s been a frustrating 2025 — although I’m not sure this result is necessarily a surprise.
There were concerns about the offense heading into the season and those concerns have proven correct. They were getting no production from their outfield, so they rushed Jac Caglianone to the majors to much hype, but he has struggled and might need a reset back in Triple-A. Even Bobby Witt Jr., as good as he has been (on pace for 7.5 WAR), has seen his OPS drop 140 points.
On the bright side, Kris Bubic emerged as an All-Star starter and Noah Cameron has filled in nicely for the injured Cole Ragans, so maybe they trade a starter for some offense.
Coming off a catastrophic 2024 season, nobody was expecting anything from the White Sox. Indeed, another 121-loss season loomed as a possibility. While they’re on pace to lose 100 again, they’ve at least played more competitive baseball thanks to their pitching.
Rookie starters Shane Smith and Sean Burke have shown promise, while rookie position players Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero and now Colson Montgomery are getting their initial taste of the majors.
There has been the mix of calamity: Luis Robert Jr. has been unproductive and is probably now untradable, and former No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn hit .189 and was traded to the Brewers.
The Twins are one organization that might like a do-over of the past five seasons. It feels like they’ve had the most talent in the division, but all they’ve done is squeeze out one soft division title in 2023. Now, the Tigers have passed them in talent and other factors, such as payroll flexibility.
There’s still time for the Twins to turn things around in 2025, but outside of that wonderful 13-game winning streak, they haven’t played winning baseball.
Overall, it’s been yet another bad season, despite Paul Skenes‘ brilliance. Really, do we talk enough about him? Yes, we do talk about him, but he has a 1.95 ERA through his first 42 career starts. Incredible.
Here’s an amazing thing about baseball. The Pirates are not a good team, but they recently put together one of the best six-game stretches in history. That’s not stretching the description. First, they swept the Mets — a good team — by scores of 9-1, 9-2 and 12-1. Then they swept the Cardinals — a good team — with three shutouts, 7-0, 1-0 and 5-0. They became the first team since at least 1901 to score 43 runs or more and allow four runs or fewer in a six-game stretch. And then they promptly got shut out three games in a row, making them the first to win three straight shutouts and then lose three straight shutouts.
Eighteen of our 28 voters picked them to win the AL West before the season, but it’s looking more and more like the 2023 World Series might be a stone-cold fluke in the middle of a string of losing seasons. That year, nearly everyone in the lineup had a career year at the plate, and the pitching got hot at the right time.
This year’s Rangers, though, have struggled to score runs, and while some have pointed to the offensive environment at Globe Life Field, they’re near the bottom in road OPS as well. It’s been fun seeing Jacob deGrom back at a dominating level, and Nathan Eovaldi should have been an All-Star.
Put it this way: If the Rangers can somehow squeeze into the postseason, you don’t want to face the Rangers in a short series. Indeed, if any team looms as an October upset special, it might be the Rangers.
The Nationals received superlative first-half performances from James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, while CJ Abrams is on the way to his best season. But there remains a lack of overall organizational progress, which finally led to the firings on Sunday of longtime GM Mike Rizzo and longtime manager Dave Martinez. A 7-19 record in June sealed their fate, as the rotation has been bad and the bullpen arguably the worst in baseball.
Until the Nationals figure out how to improve their pitching — or, better yet, find an owner who wants to win — they will be stuck going nowhere.
That fell apart in a hurry. Sunday’s loss was Cleveland’s 10th in a row, a stretch that remarkably included five shutouts. Indeed, the Guardians have now been shut out 11 times; the franchise record in the post-dead-ball-era (since 1920) is 20 shutouts in 1968.
There’s nothing worse than watching a team that can’t score runs, so that tells you how exciting the Guardians have been. Last year, the Guardians hit exceptionally well with runners in scoring position, keeping afloat what was otherwise a mediocre offense. That hasn’t happened in 2025 (trading Josh Naylor didn’t help either). Throw in some predictable regression from the bullpen, and this season looks lost.
We can’t give this a complete failing grade due to the emergence of All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (the Athletics’ first All-Star starter since Josh Donaldson in 2014) and slugging first baseman Nick Kurtz, who have a chance to finish 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting. Plus, we have Denzel Clarke‘s circus catches in center field.
But otherwise? Ugh. The Sacramento gamble already looks like a disaster, three months into a three-year stay. The team is drawing well below Sutter Health Park’s 14,000-seat capacity, with many recent games drawing under 10,000 fans. Luis Severino bashed the small crowds and the lack of air-conditioning.
The A’s had a groundbreaking ceremony for their new park in Vegas, renting heavy construction equipment as background props. Maybe they should have spent that money on more pitching help.
Based on preseason expectations, the Braves have clearly been the biggest disappointment in the National League — fighting the Orioles for most disappointing overall.
What’s gone wrong? They haven’t scored runs, as the offense continues its remarkable fade from a record-setting performance just two seasons ago. The collapses of Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies lead the way, with lack of production at shortstop and left field playing a big role as well. Closer Raisel Iglesias has struggled, and the team is 11-22 in one-run games. Spencer Strider hasn’t yet reached his pre-injury level and Reynaldo Lopez made just one start before going down.
The Braves haven’t missed the playoffs since 2017, but that run is clearly in jeopardy.
The Orioles have a similar record to the Braves but have played much worse, including losses of 24-2, 19-5, 15-3 and two separate 9-0 shutouts.
They will spend the trade deadline dealing away as many of their impending free agents as possible, and then do a lot of soul-searching heading into the offseason. After making the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, will this season just be a blip? While the pitching struggles aren’t necessarily a big surprise, what has happened to the offense? Are some of their young players prospects or suspects?
After two months of Cleveland Spiders-level baseball, it would be easy to make fun of the Rockies. Especially since they recently announced Walker Monfort — son of the owner — was promoted to executive VP and will replace outgoing president and COO Greg Feasel.
On the other hand, the Rockies are doing something right: They just drew 121,000 for a three-game series against the White Sox.
Sports
Ramirez, Brown out of ASG; McKinstry among subs
Published
6 hours agoon
July 10, 2025By
admin
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ESPN News Services
Jul 9, 2025, 05:52 PM ET
The Detroit Tigers have the best record in the majors. Now they are tied for having the most All-Stars, too.
Zach McKinstry was picked Wednesday to replace Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, who has been dealing with a rib injury. The infielder-outfielder will join Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielders Javier Baez and Riley Greene — all AL starters — and staff ace Tarik Skubal, who also is among the candidates to start the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta.
The five All-Stars for Detroit is tied for the most with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who have DH Shohei Ohtani, catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman starting for the NL along with pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw.
Yamamoto is scheduled to start Sunday for Los Angeles, so Cincinnati Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott has been picked to replace him.
Meanwhile, Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes was chosen for the AL team in place of starting third baseman Jose Ramírez, the seven-time All-Star who wants to spend the week rehabbing an Achilles injury; Twins right-hander Joe Ryan was selected as the replacement for Astros pitcher Hunter Brown; and Brewers closer Trevor Megill was added to the NL team in place of teammate Freddy Peralta, their scheduled starter for Sunday’s game.
The shuffling of replacements gives the Astros four All-Stars in Paredes, Peña, Brown and pitcher Josh Hader. The Brewers have two in Megill and Peralta. And the Twins have two with Ryan joining two-time All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton.
“This was the goal in the offseason,” said Megill, who struck out Freeman, Andy Pages and Tommy Edman in order in the 10th inning to secure the Brewers’ 3-2 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday. “Just worked my butt off for it, and here we are.”
Ramírez was hit by a pitch in a game against Toronto on June 26 and has struggled at the plate since. The seven-time All-Star was still hitting .299 with 16 homers, 44 RBIs and 24 stolen bases through 87 games for the Guardians.
“Everybody wants to go to the All-Star Game and especially for the support from the fans,” Ramírez said. “But I feel the best thing for the team is to be able to be resting (those) days and be able to contribute to the team in the second half.”
McKinstry, Paredes, Megill and Ryan make six total replacements and 71 players between the two All-Star teams. The other substitution was Rays third baseman Junior Caminero for Boston‘s Alex Bregman, who has been dealing with a strained right quadriceps.
The Tigers have been one of the surprise stories of the first half of the season. After going 86-76 and tying for second in the AL Central last season, they were 59-34 through Tuesday — the best record in the majors.
Along with playing every infield position besides catcher, and both corner outfield spots, McKinstry entered Wednesday hitting .283 with seven homers and 27 RBIs. The 30-year-old needs just three more homers and nine RBIs to set career highs.
Peña, who is hitting a career-best .322 with 11 homers and 40 RBIs in 82 games for the Astros, has been out since June 28 with a fractured rib. He had hoped to return by the All-Star break, but he has not been cleared to resume baseball activity.
Paredes, his teammate, is headed to his second straight All-Star Game in his first season in Houston. He’s hitting a career-best .255 with 19 homers and 49 RBIs for the Astros, who lead the AL West.
“My main focus is to work hard for the team and be able to give the most I can for the team,” Paredes said, “but as you can see now with the results that I’m getting … those results allow me to get to the All-Star Game, so it feels good.”
Megill earned his first career All-Star selection by going 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA, 21 saves and 43 strikeouts in 33⅔ innings.
The 29-year-old Ryan, whose name has surfaced in plenty of trade talk recently, was one of the biggest snubs when the initial All-Star Game rosters were announced. The right-hander is 8-4 with a career-best 2.76 ERA across 18 starts, and he’s struck out 116 against just 21 walks over 104 1/3 innings for the Twins.
“The last couple years, I’ve had really good numbers at voting, then I’ve kind of scuttled the last two outings or so. I can see why optically it might not look as good,” Ryan said. “But putting it together, it was kind of a shock not to be in (this year).
“At the same time, there’s so many good pitchers in the league right now. You’ve just got to hang with them and if you don’t like it, play better. That was kind of the mindset I was trying to shift into, but to get the news and be excited to go, it makes everything kind of go away and you just think about the future and going forward.”
The Associated Press and FIeld Level Media contributed to this report.
Sports
Yankees DFA LeMahieu after ‘hard conversations’
Published
6 hours agoon
July 10, 2025By
admin
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Jorge CastilloJul 9, 2025, 04:54 PM ET
Close- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK — The Yankees designated two-time batting champion DJ LeMahieu for assignment Wednesday, presumably ending the infielder’s seven-year tenure with the organization despite being owed $22 million through next season.
“Tough decisions,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “In the end, it ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what’s best. You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves to deal with on a day-in and day-out basis in-game.”
Manager Aaron Boone explained that the move resulted from “an evolving conversation” in recent days that included multiple meetings with LeMahieu, a respected veteran in the Yankees’ clubhouse.
It comes a day after Boone announced that Jazz Chisholm Jr. would shift back to playing second base every day from third base, bumping LeMahieu from the team’s everyday second baseman to a bench role. Boone acknowledged LeMahieu took the demotion “not necessarily great” but emphasized that LeMahieu did not ask for his release.
“It’s been a tough couple of days,” Boone said. “Some hard conversations. And then ultimately coming to this decision, conclusion, obviously not easy for [who’s] been a great player. He’s done a lot of great things for this organization. So, difficult, but at the end [we] feel like this is the right thing to do at this time.”
LeMahieu, who turns 37 on Sunday, batted .266 with a .674 OPS in 45 games this season after starting the season on the injured list with a strained calf. He has been better since June 1, hitting .310 with a .754 OPS in 96 plate appearances as the Yankees’ primary second baseman, but Cashman ultimately decided the production wasn’t enough to offset his defensive liabilities.
The Yankees signed LeMahieu to a six-year, $90 million contract before the 2021 season — fresh off LeMahieu hitting .364 during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign to become the first player to win a batting title in both leagues in the modern era — envisioning him as an everyday utility player bouncing between infield positions.
LeMahieu made 36 of his 55 starts last season at third base before going on the injured list in early September with a right hip impingement for the remainder of the year. That injury, according to Cashman, inhibited LeMahieu’s ability to play third base, and led to LeMahieu informing him that he couldn’t physically handle playing the position anymore.
“He was always just sharing that the recovery was really difficult,” Cashman said. “The physical toll on him to tee up at that position was a problem and so therefore that position is a problem.”
The limitation was cemented during spring training when LeMahieu strained his left calf in his first Grapefruit League game playing third base, forcing the Yankees to conclude that LeMahieu was no longer an option at the position. He only played second base in his nine rehab games before making his season debut May 13 as a second baseman with Chisholm on the injured list with an oblique strain.
Three weeks later, Chisholm, who started the season as the team’s everyday second baseman, came off the injured list to play third base despite LeMahieu’s range at second base being glaringly limited. Chisholm, who feels most comfortable at second base, accepted the assignment and returned to third base, a position he picked up last season after the Yankees acquired him from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline through the World Series.
The calculus changed Sunday when Chisholm, with the Yankees in the midst of a six-game losing streak, told reporters that he hurt his shoulder making a throw from third base three weeks earlier and the injury impacted his throwing. Two days later, Chisholm, who had made three throwing errors in his final four starts at third base, was the Yankees’ starting second baseman again.
With Chisholm, an All-Star this season, stationed at second base, former MVPs Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger entrenched at first base and Giancarlo Stanton occupying the DH spot, playing time would have been sparse for LeMahieu.
Factoring in that the Yankees’ options at third base behind Oswald Peraza, who is also the team’s backup shortstop, would have been catcher J.C. Escarra, Cashman determined that LeMahieu’s presence hampered the team’s flexibility to an extent that would have handcuffed Boone’s in-game decision-making. Infielder Jorbit Vivas, a light-hitting versatile defender, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace LeMahieu on the roster.
“I wouldn’t say he’s unwilling to still make the attempt and maybe spell over there,” Cashman said of LeMahieu. “But it was something that he was without sharing that was steering clear of to the extent he could.
“Because, again, like anything else, he’s got a lot of pride. He’s a great player. He wants to contribute to the team. He loves this team. He loves this organization. But he felt that was an avenue that was no longer a realistic avenue and that kind of ties our hands a little bit more moving forward.”
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